Re: What gas is best?

From: Rader = Darn Jar All Dry Error (rlr@bbt.com)
Date: Mon Dec 11 1995 - 11:56:00 EST


>I'm driving a '96 Dakota V8 magnum, and the salesperson told me to just run
>87 octane gas, that if I used the super unleaded my truck would "develop an
>appetite for the super"...

  Possible, I suppose, if the engine has a knock sensor and the ECU programming
is intelligent enough to modify timing in response to different octane.
I'd guess that would disappear if you disconnected ECU power.

>My truck has been running fine
>on the 87, and I was talking about this with one of my friends who has an
>'86 Laser Turbo with 162K miles on it, and he said "if I didn't run super
>unleaded in my car, I don't think it would've made it to 162K miles..."

  There is nothing magical about premium gasoline. Octane rating is an
indication of the gasoline's anti-knock capability. There is more tendency
to knock when compression is raised, or higher temperature encountered, etc.
so some engines are designed to require premium gas. I have no knowledge
of the Laser engine, so can't make a call in that situation.
 
>am I really making a mistake by running 87
>octane in my truck?? Should I spend the extra $$$ for the super??

  Follow the recommendation in your Dakota owner's manual. Paying extra
for higher octane you may not need is pointless. As I said, there is nothing
magical about premium gas, no matter what the testimonials say.

  If you add the MP performance computer, I think you must use 93 octane
gas.

  Now comes my question: the '95 owner's manual I have says "use
gasoline of AT LEAST 87 octane" (emphasis mine). I've done some basic
experiments with tanks of 87 vs. 89 octane gasolines (same brand), and
can detect no apparent differences in driveability or mileage. Haven't
felt the need to experiment with 93 octane yet. So, I've pretty much
settled on using regular old 87 unleaded. Has anybody else detected
any difference using different octane gas in your Dakota?

  Ron "That $0.20 Per Gallon Adds Up" Rader



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:07:19 EDT